World According to Russia: E.U. Sanctions are America's Doing (Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland)

"The United
States are the initiators of the conflict in Ukraine The Americans have European
Union countries on a short leash, and often without taking account of their
views and interests, impose on them anti-Russian sanctions and attitudes. The
U.S. is eager for Russia to stop existing as a country. That is because we
have immense wealth in resources and the Americans believe we dispose of that
wealth illegally and inappropriately. In their view, we don't use our riches as
we should."

The E.U. sanctions imposed on Moscow "over Ukraine"
will remain in force at least until the end of January. The Kremlin sees this
as the long arm of the Americans determined to destroy "Russia as a state."

The torment of banks, oil and armaments companies in Russia will
continue due to a lack of access to long-term loans from the West. Restrictions
on access to modern technologies will also continue to apply.

Moscow says its response to the decision of E.U. foreign
ministers will be quick, but what is certain is that Russia will extend its
embargo on food from the West.

It has long been clear that foreign ministers of E.U. member
states would, unanimously and without discussion, extend year-long restrictions
implemented in August, 2014 by an additional six months.

Moscow has exerted itself mightily to exploit the, at times,
shaky solidarity of Europeans. In Donetsk there are ongoing military
provocations along the section of the Russia-Ukraine border controlled by pro-Russia
rebels, which remains wide open for the resupply and movement of troops and weapons
from Russia. The agreement between Kiev and the Donbas rebels is no longer
discussed, as the demands of the latter means the dismantlement of the
Ukrainian state.

I don't know whether E.U. foreign ministers had time Monday
morning before their meeting to read an interview given to the newspaper Kommersant by Kremlin
Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev - an
important member of the small "political bureau" comprised of hawkish Putin advisors.

If they had managed to read it, they would likely have found
it necessary to discuss  not renewing the sanctions  but ratcheting them up.

The former head of the Federal Security
Service of FSB (Patrushev took over the post of FSB chief directly from
Putin when he took up the office of prime minister and then president), when asked
whether Russia could stop the torrent of citizens going to fight for Donbas,
replied that it could under no circumstances do so. According to Patrushev,
these are men who take up arms only to defend compatriots and oppose evil under
the impulse of the heart.

Overcome with the moral purity of his countrymen's motives,
the former head of the Russian special services appears to have forgotten the
section of the Criminal Code that provides penalties for serving in foreign
military formations.

According to Kommersant, Patrushev, who as FSB director commanded the border
troops, says closing the border with Ukraine is out of the question. Of course, thanks
to the fact that it remains open and beyond Ukrainian control, Moscow manages
to keep the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk
alive. It should therefore be understood that the umbilical cord through which
the Kremlin supports the war will not be cut.

And of course - the Americans are to blame, because it's for
their sake that Donbas is in flames and Europeans impose sanctions that damage
themselves more than they do Russians.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

When asked about the role of the United States, the Security
Council secretary unfurled the wings of his imagination:

"The United States are the initiators of the conflict
in Ukraine," adding that Americans "have European Union countries on
a short leash, and often without taking account of their views and interests,
impose on them anti-Russian sanctions and attitudes."

And in fact, Washington is committed to goals far more ambitious than
just Ukraine:

"The U.S. is eager for Russia to stop existing as a
country. That is because we have immense wealth in resources and the Americans
believe we dispose of that wealth illegally and inappropriately. In their view,
we don't use our riches as we should." So said Patrushev
 thereby exposing the enemy's intentions.

News of extended sanctions is more digestible for Russians
when packaged like this. It serves to banish thoughts of how life will get
harder and instead fills the Russian heart with pride over the fact that standing
against their homeland are not "the wimps" from Europe, but Russia's
only worthy adversary  those who keep them on a string.

Russia and the Holy See: Defenders of the Christian West (Izvestia, Russia)

Regardless of the choice of words, it's obvious that Moscow remains at the center of what it calls "the all-encompassing storm," which consists of every element of an economic attack: sanctions, recession, the crash of outdated management and the collapse in oil and gas prices.

To that must be added the moral crisis of society  because
the state is attempting, and doing so rather successfully  to cover the eyes
of its citizens and propagate hatred toward imaginary enemies.

It will surprise no one if under the auspices of the Ministry
of Defense, the Russian Army were to open a retail store. It would have plastic "green
men," among which would be the figure of a "man" with an
anti-aircraft rocket launcher standing beside the wreckage of downed aircraft [MH17]. The
product will be called "clear sky." Such clearing of the sky won't
bring an end to the "all-encompassing storm" any closer.